治禪病祕要法

Seventy-two methods

for treating disorders of the mind in a secluded place

(Matters asked about by the Venerable Sariputra, extracted from accounts concerning secluded places in the Samyukta Agama)

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling with one thousand two hundred and fifty bhiksus in Anathapindika’s Park in the Jeta Grove, in the kingdom of Sravasti. During the summer retreat, on the fifteenth day of the fifth month, five hundred bhiksus of the Sakya clan were beneath a bamboo grove, practicing the aranya discipline. They were cultivating the twelfth contemplation in the method of counting the breath and entered the samadhi of right concentration called Vaidurya.

At that time, Prince Virudhaka, the son of King Prasenajit, together with five hundred sons of wealthy householders, rode the elephant Great Fragrance near Jetavana. They sported like naras and also made elephants drunk so that they would fight one another. There was a foremost black elephant named Lotus whose roar was extremely terrifying, like thunder, while the quieter sound in between resembled the wailing of a cat.

The Sakyan bhiksus Dhyana Nandi, Upanandi, and others, while contemplating the wind element, were so frightened that their hair stood on end. They consequently gave rise to deranged and deluded perceptions, emerged from meditative concentration, and gesticulated like drunken elephants, unable to control themselves. The Venerable Ananda told the bhiksus to fasten the doors of their dwellings securely:

“My fellow Sakyans have now become deranged and may cause harm.”

The assembly of bhiksus then went to Sariputra and said:

“Venerable sir, venerable sir! Your wisdom and understanding are unobstructed, like the foremost banner of Sakra, Lord of the Devas: wherever it goes, fear vanishes. We beseech you, out of compassion, to rescue the Sakyans from the suffering of madness and confusion.”

Thereupon Sariputra immediately arose, took Ananda by the hand, and went directly to the Buddha. They circumambulated the Buddha three times, paid homage, knelt, joined their palms, and said:

“World-Honored One, we beseech the World-Honored One, out of compassion for all beings, to teach for the sake of bhiksus in future ages who dwell in aranya, secluded places...”

The Buddha said:

“Madness and confusion arise from five causes:

“First, noise.

“Second, ill repute.

“Third, material gain and support.

“Fourth, external wind.

“Fifth, internal wind.”

“How should these five kinds of illness be treated? We beseech the World-Honored One to explain this clearly for me.”

The World-Honored One then smiled. Five-colored rays of light issued from the Buddha’s mouth, circled the Buddha seven times, and reentered through the crown of his head. The Buddha said:

“Sariputra, listen attentively. Listen well and reflect upon this carefully. I shall distinguish and explain it clearly for you.

If a practitioner dwelling in a secluded place cultivates the twelfth contemplation in the method of counting the breath, external noise may reverberate within the heart, causing the four hundred and four vessels to draw the heart into rapid beating. Because of this sudden disturbance, the force of the wind becomes violent and leads to madness. The vessels of the heart begin to move, and five kinds of wind enter the throat, first causing an inability to speak.

One should instruct this practitioner to drink milk mixed with honey and eat haritaki, then bind the mind to a single place. First, the practitioner should visualize a crystal-colored mirror and contemplate his own body within that mirror performing all manner of insane acts. Having seen this, he should contemplate further and say: ‘Look into the mirror.

You see your own body performing all manner of mad and deluded acts. Your parents and relatives all see you behaving without clarity. I now instruct you to abandon the ways of madness and delusion.’

“You, Sariputra, should remember first to teach the method for eliminating sounds. The method for eliminating sounds is as follows: curl the tongue upward against the gums and visualize two mani jewels between the two ears. The wish-fulfilling jewels, resembling drops of milk, descend directly into the ears and transform into ghee, permeating the ear faculties so that sounds are no longer apprehended.

Even if there were a great sound like penetrating oil, one would remain unmoved. When this visualization has been accomplished, next visualize nineteen layers of vajra canopies appearing from the king of wish-fulfilling jewels and covering the practitioner’s body. Beneath is a vajra flower upon which the practitioner sits, while vajra mountains surround the practitioner on all four sides.

This space is completely enclosed and tranquil, cutting off external sounds altogether. Within each mountain sit seven Buddhas, expounding the four foundations of mindfulness to the practitioner. At that time all is still, and no external sounds are heard.

According to the Buddha’s teaching, this is called the Dharma gateway for eliminating disturbance, also known as the visualization for dispelling noise.”

The Buddha told Sariputra:

“You practitioners should cultivate this carefully and never forget it. This is called the method for treating an inverted and disordered mind. Furthermore, Sariputra, after external sounds have been eliminated, internal sounds must also be expelled. Internal sounds arise when external sounds disturb the six faculties, causing the vessels of the heart to become disordered. Five kinds of harmful wind enter the vessels of the heart, and because the wind agitates the mind, one sings, dances, and performs all manner of actions. You should teach the contemplation for cleansing the heart.

“The method of contemplating the cleansing of the heart is as follows: first contemplate your own heart gradually becoming luminous, like a fire-jewel, while the four hundred and four vessels resemble vaidurya gems or pure gold, or plantain trees extending straight to the sides of the heart. The fire-jewel emits a vapor that is neither hot nor cold, neither coarse nor subtle. Through visualization, let it permeate and suffuse all the vessels.

A Brahma king holds a mani mirror and shines it upon the practitioner’s chest. The practitioner then contemplates the chest as being clear and beautiful like the king of wish-fulfilling jewels. The fire-jewel is the heart held in the palm of the Great Brahma King.

Upon it is the seal of the turning wheel; within the seal of the turning wheel is a white lotus; and upon the white lotus is a celestial youth whose hands are raised high. Milk-water pours forth from the king of wish-fulfilling jewels, irrigating all the vessels, while the milk slowly drips down until it reaches the heart. The youth holds two needles in his hands, the first of pure gold and the second blue.

He places two golden flowers on either side of the heart and pierces them with the needles. After seven piercings, the heart once again becomes supple as before. He then uses the milk to wash the heart once more.

The drops of milk gather and flow into the large intestine. When the large intestine is full, they enter the small intestine. When the small intestine is full, various streams of milk flow forth, dripping without cease into the mouths of the eighty thousand households of worms.

The worms throughout the body are fully satisfied. The milk then pours into the bones, permeating all three hundred and thirty-six joints. Afterward, visualize a pond of milk in which a white lotus arises.

The practitioner sits upon it and bathes in the milk. Visualize soft cotton, like white lotus flowers, encircling the body in seven layers. The practitioner remains within them, while the Brahma King himself holds a vessel of milk for the practitioner to rinse his mouth.

When the rinsing is finished, the Brahma King holds a canopy over the practitioner. Within the Brahma King’s canopy, the practitioner sees all supremely wondrous states and thereby regains his original mind, free from confusion and disorder.”

When the Buddha spoke these words, the five hundred Sakyan bhiksus followed the Buddha’s instructions and practiced each method accordingly. Their minds gradually became cool and refreshed. They contemplated form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness as impermanent, suffering, empty, and without self.

They ceased to crave or cling to the world, penetrated the Dharma of emptiness, and suddenly regained their original minds. They shattered eight billion burning fetters and attained the fruit of stream-entry. By cultivating and training gradually, they attained arhatship, the three knowledges, the six superknowledges, and the eight liberations in full.

At that time, the bhiksus heard the Buddha’s teaching, rejoiced, and respectfully practiced it. This is called the method of suppleness for treating the internal wind of the four great elements.

“Furthermore, Sariputra, any practitioner wishing to cultivate meditative concentration must skillfully contemplate the states of the four great elements, according to whether they increase or decrease at a given time. In spring, one should enter the samadhi of the fire element so that the body becomes warm. If the radiance of the fire grows fierce and the body emits heat, it should be treated immediately. Visualize the rays of fire becoming wish-fulfilling jewels and issuing from the pores. In the spaces between the rays of light, golden lotus flowers appear, with transformation Buddhas seated upon them, teaching the methods for treating illness by means of three kinds of jewels:

– First is the moon-essence mani jewel.

– Second is the starlight mani jewel, resembling a star in the heavens, with a blue body and white rays of light.

– Third is the crystal mani jewel.

Visualize these three kinds of jewels: one shining above the head, one shining beside the left shoulder, and one shining beside the right shoulder. Having seen the three jewels, visualize the light of these three kinds of jewels streaming forth from the pores of the body, exceedingly cool and refreshing, bringing ease to body and mind as one enters the fire samadhi, where nothing can cause harm. (This is called the method for treating the samadhi of the fire element.)

Furthermore, Shariputra! In autumn one should enter the earth samadhi. Upon entering the earth samadhi, one sees within this manifestation of earth hundreds of thousands of rocky mountains, iron mountains, Cakravada Mountains, and vajra mountains.

From head to foot, each of the three hundred and thirty-six joints is itself hundreds of thousands of mountains, and one sees the mountain spirit Yan’e. At that time, it must be treated immediately. The visualization method for treating the earth element is as follows: contemplate each of these mountains very carefully as being like a plantain tree.

Contemplate each one carefully in sequence, as taught in the Sutra of the Ten Similes. At that time, one sees only earth throughout the ten directions. The great earth resembles white vaidurya and bears precious white flowers.

One sees Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, Kashyapa, and Katyayana seated in caves of white vajra, while water covers the earth. For the practitioner, they teach the five dharmas of dissolution and the five dharmas of composition, and explain that earth is impermanent. After seeing this, the practitioner’s body and mind become at ease, and the practitioner regains the original state of mind.

This is called the method for treating the earth element.

Furthermore, Shariputra! When a practitioner enters the samadhi of the water element, the practitioner sees their own body as a great flowing spring, with the three hundred and thirty-six joints flowing along with the current, and sees the lands throughout the ten directions completely inundated with blue water. If the water is white or red, it must be treated immediately.

The method for treating the water element is as follows: first contemplate the body as becoming a mani jewel and an auspicious vase, covered above by a golden flower. Cause the waters of the ten directions to flow into the vase. From this auspicious vase there then gush forth seven clearly distinct flowers, each with seven petals.

In the center of each petal are seven streams; in each stream are seven golden flowers; and upon each flower sits a Buddha teaching the seven factors of awakening. (This is called the method for treating the water element.)

Furthermore, Shariputra! If a practitioner enters the wind samadhi and sees their own body become nineteen dragon heads, each dragon head having nine hundred ears, innumerable mouths, and pores all over its body, while its ears and mouths resemble great caverns and ravines, all emitting fierce winds, this must be treated immediately. The method of treatment is as follows: instruct the practitioner to contemplate their own body as becoming a vajra seat.

On its four sides, visualize four vajra wheels obstructing these winds. The vajra wheels then produce seven vajra flowers. Upon the flowers are transformation Buddhas holding water vessels in their hands.

Within the vessels are sixteen dragon heads, which coil their bodies and draw in the winds. At that time, the winds throughout the ten directions become calm and motionless. The practitioner then again sees the seven Buddhas and the four great shravakas, who once more teach the seven factors of awakening.

The practitioner gradually enters the Noble Eightfold Path. (This is called the method for treating the wind element.) Apply milk and contemplate softness, so that the four elements gradually enter the radiant realm of the noble ones.

Furthermore, Shariputra! If a practitioner’s four elements become coarse and obstructed, causing anger, delight, sorrow, happiness, overturning, crawling, passing wind downward, or other such disorders, the practitioner should be instructed to treat them immediately. The method of treatment is as follows: first instruct the practitioner to contemplate the thin skin, beginning from half a bone joint, and to see within the thin skin ninety-nine layers resembling bubbles.

Next contemplate the thick skin, its ninety-nine layers resembling the sheaths of a plantain tree. Then contemplate the thin membranes, their ninety-nine layers resembling the membranes of the eyelids, disintegrating and on the verge of being pierced through. Next contemplate the flesh, likewise having ninety-nine layers resembling plantain leaves.

In their midst are tiny worms as fine as down. Each worm has four heads, four mouths, and ninety-nine tails. One should then contemplate the bones and see them emitting white rays of light like white vaidurya.

They have ninety-eight layers, and four hundred and four vessels run into their interior, extending from top to bottom like the trunk of a plantain tree. Next contemplate the marrow, which has ninety-eight layers and resembles a worm’s silken web. Having contemplated all the bone joints, next contemplate the skull.

Beneath each strand of hair are four hundred and four vessels running directly into the brain. Apart from the thin and thick skin, the bones are no different from the body; only the cerebral membranes have fourteen layers. The brain has four divisions and ninety-eight layers.

Four hundred and four vessels run into the heart, large intestine, small intestine, stomach, kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, gallbladder, throat, and the Feishu point, which sends heat to the two viscera, as well as into the eighty thousand resident worms. At every stage, contemplate them carefully just as they truly are, radiant and distinct, with each layer of skin adjoining the next and the spaces between them clear and bright like white vaidurya.

Carefully contemplate each half-joint in this way, causing all three hundred and thirty-six joints to become distinctly visible, and establish the mind there. Again contemplate this from the head one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times. Only afterward should one retain the vital breath in one place and count the breaths in order to subdue conceptual thought.

A Brahma king, holding a Brahma vase in his hand and accompanied by the Brahma assembly, comes before the practitioner and gives the practitioner a vajra knife. Having received the knife, the practitioner cuts off their own skull, which is as large as a Makha jewel, and places it upon the left knee. Within the Brahma vase arises a white lotus with nine sections, nine petals, and nine layers.

A youth who has followed behind the Brahma king emerges from the first section of the lotus. His body is white like a person made of white jade. In his hand he holds a white vase containing ghee.

From the wish-fulfilling jewel within the Brahma king’s topknot, medicinal herbs of many colors appear and are poured into the ghee. The youth pours it through the crown of the practitioner’s head. It enters the vessels of the brain and flows straight downward until it reaches the half-joint of the left big toe.

After filling that half-joint, it permeates the entire foot, reaching even the thin skin. It then reaches the next joint, gradually filling half the body in this way. After filling half the body, it fills the entire body.

Once all four hundred and four vessels throughout the body have been filled, the various medicines continue to flow. Contemplate all three hundred and thirty-six joints of the body as completely filled. The practitioner then picks up the skull again and replaces it upon the head.

The youth again takes blue medicine and sprinkles it over the practitioner’s head. Each drop of this medicine enters through the pores, preventing external wind from entering. The Brahma king further instructs the practitioner to make the milk of the Snow Mountains perfectly white and radiant.

The ghee flows like a crystal wall; take it and anoint the body forty-nine times. Then create a vast pool of ghee, with white milk forming flowers. The practitioner sits within a grotto of milk, with a canopy of milk above.

The Brahma king’s medicine of loving-kindness is scattered throughout the expanse of milk. Contemplate this carefully nine hundred and ninety-nine times.

Afterward, one should visualize that within the second section of the lotus is a rose-colored youth holding red medicine, which he scatters over the practitioner’s hair and entire body and into all the practitioner’s pores. Cause this medicine to enter the thin skin and continue as far as the marrow, making the area beneath the heart shine brightly and causing the entire body gradually to become supple.

From the third section, the lotus brings forth a golden-yellow youth holding yellow medicine. He scatters it over the practitioner’s hair, the entire body, and all the pores. Cause this medicine to enter the thin skin and penetrate into the marrow, making the area beneath the heart blue, while the entire body gradually becomes tall and strong and grows still more supple.

At the fourth joint, a youth whose color is like vaidurya holds green medicine in his right hand and scatters it over the practitioner’s hair, entire body, and all pores, causing the green medicine to penetrate the thin skin and reach even the marrow. He causes the area beneath the heart to become red. Into every pore in the lower part of the legs he inserts one needle, and into the upper part, two needles.

Above the heart he creates three lotus flowers. Within the three lotuses are three fire-jewels that emit red light. The light shines into the heart, gradually warming it.

He then presses both palms against the joints and inserts three needles into each joint. According to whether the vessels are above or below, he regulates the vital energies so that they circulate through the four hundred and four vessels without touching the large intestine, while the kidney vessel grows stronger. He also inserts five needles into the intestinal vessel on the left.

In this manner, the youth adjusts all the needles. Through the cultivation of non-conceptualization and the practice of non-conceptualization, he removes the needles, places them beneath the five fingernails, and rubs his hands over the practitioner’s entire body.

At the fifth joint, a green youth holds a jade vessel and pours green medicinal water into the anus. It flows throughout the large and small intestines, the five viscera, and all the vessels. The water then flows back out through the anus, carrying with it microorganisms and all impurities, while the clarified essence is not diminished. When the organisms are gone and the water has ceased flowing, he again scatters dry green medicine over the practitioner’s hair, entire body, and all pores, causing this dry green medicine to penetrate the thin skin and reach the marrow. He causes the area beneath the heart to become white, and the entire body gradually becomes increasingly supple.

At the sixth joint, a purple youth holds a vessel of red pearls filled with red-pearl water and sprinkles it throughout all the vessels, causing the red-pearl water to flow out through the pores. All the organisms beneath the body hair flow out with the water. He then scatters a kind of dry, amber-colored medicine over the hair, the entire body, and all the pores, causing the dry amber-colored medicine to penetrate the thin skin and reach the marrow. He causes the area beneath the heart gradually to shine like the radiance of white snow, while the entire body becomes increasingly supple.

At the seventh joint, a yellow youth holds a vajra awl and pierces beneath both feet, both palms, and both sides of the heart. He then holds a wish-fulfilling king of jewels and rubs it over the six sense faculties. The faculties open, and the practitioner experiences the bliss of the highest flavor of meditation. The spaces between the skin and the vessels seem to be coated with white ointment, and everything becomes supple.

At the eighth joint, a vajra-colored youth holds two vessels and pours vajra-colored medicine into both ears and all the pores. Following the An-ma method, he adjusts the joints so that the bones of the body pass through the joints like links in a chain.

At the ninth joint, a mani-jewel-colored youth emerges from the mouth of the vessel and approaches the practitioner. He places five fingers into the practitioner’s mouth, and medicine of five colors flows from them. After drinking it, the practitioner contemplates the body and mind, including all the vessels, and they become pure like a bright mirror, beyond comparison even with the colors of crystal and mani jewels.

The youth holds out a lotus branch for the practitioner to eat. Eating it is like drinking the milk of the Dharma, with amrita flowing from every drop, and the practitioner immediately consumes the entire branch. There are only nine flowers, and within each flower is a Brahma king carrying a Brahma king’s couch, which he presents to the practitioner as a seat.

Once the practitioner is seated upon the couch, a great canopy of the seven treasures covers him. Each Brahma king expounds the Dharma of loving-kindness and instructs the practitioner. Through the power of the Brahma kings, the Buddhas of the ten directions appear before the practitioner and expound loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

According to his faculties, he receives the medicine of the Dharma, and the four great elements become relaxed and at ease.

Śāriputra! Skillfully practice this method for rendering the four great elements supple. Subdue the ninety-eight fetters within and outside the body and all illnesses, and use the Brahma king’s Dharma of anointing the crown, pouring forth milk as you expound it to the four assemblies.

At that time, Śāriputra, the Venerable Ānanda, and the others heard the Buddha’s teaching, rejoiced, and respectfully practiced it.

Furthermore, Śāriputra! If a bhikshu in a secluded place applies his mind too hastily, counts his breaths too coarsely, and sleeps with inadequate protection, external wind and cold will consequently enter the vessels of the stomach, lungs, kidneys, and other organs. They will cause wind to arise in the sinews, the qi to flow upward and constrict the chest, and fluid to seep from every joint and accumulate in the chest.

Consequently, the qi and blood become obstructed, headaches arise, and the sinews contract and convulse. This should therefore be treated at once. The method for treating this illness is as follows: First, drink a fatty substance and the finest medicinal remedy available in the world.

Then lie on the back, count the breaths until settled, and visualize Lake Anavatapta filled with water for an extent of one yojana. At its bottom are golden sand and four kinds of treasures. A golden wheel produces a golden flower as large as the wheel.

Within the flower are four kinds of treasures. There is an elephant-headed beast whose trunk spouts water, a lion whose mouth spouts water, a horse whose mouth spouts water, and an ox whose mouth spouts water. They circle the lake seven times.

The palace of the Dragon King Anavatapta, made of the seven treasures, stands amid the heads of the four beasts. Upon the crown of the Dragon King is a wish-fulfilling jewel. Through the Dragon King’s power, one thousand five hundred multicolored lotus flowers and five hundred blue lotus flowers arise.

The Venerable Piṇḍola, together with five hundred arhats, sits upon them. At night the flowers close, and by day they open. Canopies of the seven treasures cover the bhikshus, and there are seven jeweled couches.

Beneath the lotus flowers are five hundred golden lotus flowers. Cūḍapanthaka, together with five hundred śrāmaṇeras, sits upon the flowers. At night they close, and in the morning they open.

Canopies of the seven treasures cover the śrāmaṇeras, and there are couches of the seven treasures. Beneath the lotus flowers are five hundred red lotus flowers. The Venerable Upananda, Vasumitra, and other great arhats, or the five hundred attendants of the great bodhisattvas, all sit upon the flowers.

At night the flowers close, and by day they open. Above the bhikshus are seven jeweled canopies, and beneath the lotus flowers are couches of the seven treasures. A lofty terrace made of the seven treasures, eight thousand zhang long, rises from the direction below.

At that time, before the palace of the Dragon King Anavatapta, five hundred youths stand upon that terrace, their bodies the color of pure gold. The first youth is named Jāva, the second is named Sudhana, and so forth, while the five-hundredth youth is named Power of Anointing the Crown. If one wishes to treat the king’s choking illness, one should first recollect the Venerable Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja and the other one thousand five hundred venerable ones described above, causing them to appear distinctly.

The Venerable Piṇḍola will then send the youth Jāva, who carries the white Ambada medicinal drink of the Dragon King Anavatapta. This medicine tastes sweet like sugarcane, resembles a lotus stalk, and also tastes like rock sugar. After drinking this medicine, the choking illness will be cured, the four great elements will become harmonious, and the eyes will immediately become bright and clear.

If the person has aroused the Mahayana mind, Jāva, Sudhana, and the other five hundred youths will expound the Mahayana Dharma to him. Through this, he will behold Bhadrapāla and the other sixteen worthy ones. He will also behold Maitreya and the other one thousand bodhisattvas of the Auspicious Kalpa.

Because he has aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment, he will perfect the six paramitas. If a person arouses the śrāvaka aspiration, the Venerable Piṇḍola will expound the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the other teachings to him. After ninety days, he will attain the path of an arhat.

The Buddha told Śāriputra:

“Carefully preserve this method for treating choking illness well, and do not allow it to be forgotten.”

At that time, Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the others heard the Buddha’s teaching, rejoiced, and respectfully practiced it.

The method for treating a practitioner afflicted by lustful desire:

Furthermore, Shariputra! If, when a practitioner enters meditative concentration, lust is about to arise, wind stirs the four hundred and four channels extending from the eyes to the bodily faculty. They all become agitated at once, the sense faculties are obstructed, and the wind of the heart is aroused, causing the mind to become deranged.

Because of this derangement, the practitioner becomes afflicted by demons and spirits and thinks of desire day and night, as though trying to extinguish a fire blazing upon his head. He must therefore be treated urgently. The method for treating this illness instructs the practitioner to contemplate the womb.

The womb lies below the organ containing undigested food and above the organ containing digested food. Its ninety-nine layers of membrane resemble a dead pig inside a sack. The four hundred and four channels within the womb resemble the roots of a tree, branching out toward the various faculties.

It is like a bag filled with excrement, with one thousand nine hundred joints resembling plantain leaves, around which eighty thousand colonies of worms circle. The four hundred and four channels and the womb resemble a horse’s intestines and extend directly to the birth opening. They are like bracelets worn upon the wrist, with sections large and small, rounded above and pointed below, their forms resembling a complete set of teeth.

There are ninety-nine layers, and between every layer are four hundred and four worms. Each worm has twelve heads and twelve mouths. When a person drinks water, the refined fluid enters the channels and is distributed among the worms.

It enters the crown of the Pilu worm and proceeds directly to the birth opening. Every half-month, impure fluid vomited by the worms flows forth. Resembling pus, it flows into the mouths of ninety worms, and from the six apertures of the twelve-headed worms it oozes like red mucus.

There are also tiny worms as fine as hairs, frolicking within.

O sons of good family! Because of former evil karma, the four hundred and four channels branch from the eye faculty into the four limbs, lead to the intestines, and reach beneath the organ containing undigested food and above the organ containing digested food. In the lung channel and the kidney channels on both sides there are sixty-four worms.

Each worm has twelve heads and also twelve mouths. They coil around one another in the shape of rings and are filled with blue-green pus resembling the semen of a wild boar, exceedingly foul-smelling. Upon reaching the genital organ, the channels divide into three branches.

The two upper branches resemble plantain leaves and contain one thousand two hundred channels. Within each channel arise wind-worms as fine as the down of a Pilanda bird. In the mouths of these worms arise dark-colored sinew-worms.

These worms resemble interconnected sinews; they hold the womb in place, can agitate the channels, and draw in the blue-white male seminal worms and the pink-red female worms. Seventy-eight thousand of them coil together inside, shaped like linked rings. Resembling the Kushila bird, they have ninety-eight eyes.

The channels upon their bodies connect with the heart and ascend to the crown of the head.

O sons of good family! When the eyes encounter forms as objects, wind stirs the four hundred and four channels of the mind faculty. Driven by the wind, they move without ceasing, and the eighty thousand colonies of worms open their mouths simultaneously. Pus flows from the eyes and pours into the channels, reaching the crowns of the worms. The worms writhe madly, bereft of awareness. When there is contact with the female organ, the blue-white male seminal fluid is the tears of the worms, while the yellow-red female seminal fluid is their pus. The ninety-eight defilements are dharmas that permeate the eighty thousand colonies of worms and are produced through the interaction of earth, water, wind, and fire.

The Buddha said to Shariputra:

– Those among the fourfold assembly who wear the robe of shame and moral dread, take the medicine of shame and moral dread, seek liberation, and wish to cross beyond the suffering of the world should study this Dharma as though drinking amrita. One who studies this Dharma should first visualize the womb, extending to the female organ and the bodily parts of the male. The worms, large and small, open their mouths and prick up their ears; their eyes bulge with anger as they vomit pus. Turn the hand palm upward and place it squarely upon the left knee, then count the breaths to establish concentration. Contemplate in this way one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times, and this visualization will be accomplished. Place the hand squarely upon the right knee and contemplate as before. Then turn the hand palm upward and cover the crown of the head, causing all the worms’ impurities first to drip into both eyes, both ears, the mouth, and everywhere else, reaching every place without exception. Having seen this, when looking upon the beauty of a woman or a man, or even of a heavenly prince or heavenly maiden, one should regard them as one regards a leper, as worms in a nali sore, as the arrow hell, as the form of the spirit Panda-la, or as the raging fire of the Avici hell. One must carefully contemplate that one’s own body, the bodies of others, and the bodily parts of all sentient beings in this Realm of Desire are impure. All are alike in this respect.

The Buddha said to Shariputra:

– Do you now understand? The bodily faculties and the fundamental generative faculties of sentient beings are all impure; this cannot be fully described. One should simply count the breaths and contemplate single-mindedly. Whoever takes this medicine is a great person, a teacher of devas and humans, a tamer who has escaped the mire of desire and is no longer tossed and submerged in the great river of affectionate attachment. Those given to lust do not understand that form is illusory and are therefore harassed and harmed by demons of desire. Know that such persons have not yet escaped birth and death. The body of this practitioner is pure and fragrant like a blue lotus among humankind. Fragrant elephants, dragon kings, mighty champions, Maheshvara, and others cannot compare with this great person of immense strength, revered and cherished by devas and humans.

The Buddha said to Shariputra:

– Receive and uphold this well, preserve it, and expound it to the fourfold assembly. Take care never to let it be forgotten.

At that time, Shariputra, Ananda, and the others heard the Buddha’s teaching, rejoiced, and respectfully practiced it.

The method for treating the sore of gain and support:

Furthermore, Shariputra! If a practitioner is scorched by the fire of greed, shaken by evil winds, and struck in the heart by the poisoned arrow of gain and support, then because of the conditions of greed, his mind becomes inverted. Throughout the six periods of day and night, he thinks in every way about what he covets.

Like a cat stalking a mouse, he knows no satisfaction. Like a seven-step snake, he spits venom that covers his body. This evil person, attached to gain and support, has five hundred venomous snakes coiled around his body.

Thus, moment after moment, the poisonous fire within his mind burns without ceasing. Throughout the six periods of day and night, the fierce winds of affliction fan the firewood of gain and support within his mind, burning incessantly, while the snakes contend with one another and burn up the sprouts of goodness. Because of these causes and conditions, he is scorched by black demons of violent madness and virulent poison.

Seeing another person obtain gain is like being struck in the heart by an arrow, pierced in the eye by a sharp point, or having a nail driven into the ear. His sense faculties become obstructed. The five hundred and five snakes, the venomous dragons of the four great elements, the five bandits drawing their blades, and the rakshasas of the six villages all begin fighting simultaneously.

He consequently becomes insane and must be treated urgently.

The method for treating this illness is as follows: First, one should count the breaths and bind the mind in concentration. Visualize the Buddha as sixteen feet tall, his body the color of purple-gold, adorned with the thirty-two marks, dwelling on Mount Gridhrakuta inside a cave made of the seven precious substances. Seated upon a lion throne, he expounds to the fourfold assembly the Dharma that eliminates greed, saying to his Dharma children: “Contemplate those who greedily cling to kasayas, the six requisites, various implements, and other possessions.

They are like people in a forest of thorns, sewing needles, and trees that grow swords, where hundreds of thousands of sharp nails and worms with pointed iron beaks peck at and devour their bodies. Boiling copper cauldrons billowing with steam, iron saws, iron beds, and the like are your seats. Urine, excrement, venomous snakes, iron pellets, cauldrons of boiling water, forests of knives, halberds, swords, tens of billions of sharp thorns, molten copper, rivers of fire, lye, blood, pus, and the like are your food and drink.”

At that time, after the Blessed One had spoken these words, he remained silent and said no more, causing the practitioner to see his own body lying within seven layers of iron walls. He saw five rakshasas opening their mouths in two directions and using eighty iron hooks to pull his tongue outward. Measureless iron plows, resembling trees fitted with swords, plowed the practitioner’s tongue.

From the openings in the bodies of iron oxen flowed bronze worms. Swarms of iron worms dwelt within his body; the pus was of a hundred thousand colors, and within the pus were worms beyond description. Contemplating this sight, his heart was filled with fear and his hair stood on end.

Whether emerging from or entering samadhi, he saw attachment to the kasaya as pus and excrement mingled with blood, adorned with sharp-beaked iron worms and forests of knives, swords, and halberds. He saw food as though it were worms; a hundred thousand tiny worms thereby produced pus, excrement, urine, and various kinds of blood. Eighty kinds of sharp-beaked worms—wind worms, fire worms, water worms, earth worms, and hell worms—all vomited pus and poison until the entire bowl was filled, while iron pellets, swords, and halberds served as vegetables and fruits.

At that time, the Blessed One spoke this verse:

– Birth and death never cease

Because of craving for flavors.

Nourishing the body with poisonous things,

One must undergo manifold suffering.

The body stinks like a corpse;

From its nine openings, filth flows.

Like maggots in a privy delighting in excrement,

The foolish who cling to the body are no different.

The wise should contemplate the body

And not be defiled by craving for the world;

Unencumbered and unattached to desire—

This is called true nirvana.

As all Buddhas have taught:

With single-minded, unified intent,

Count the breaths in a secluded place;

This is called the practice of dhutanga.

The Buddha told Sariputra:

– Material gain and support harm the body and destroy a person’s wholesome roots in ways that cannot be fully described. One should simply count the breaths and contemplate single-mindedly. One who takes this medicine is a great being, a teacher of devas and humans, and a king who tames and guides. He escapes the mire of desire and is not tossed about or drowned in the waters of the great river of affection and attachment. Those who crave gain, unaware of the harm by which it scorches them, should be known as people who have not yet escaped birth and death. The body of one who takes this medicine becomes fragrant and pure like a blue lotus. Among humans, fragrant elephants, dragon kings, mighty warriors, Mahesvara, and others cannot compare with him. Such a great being is revered by devas and humans.

The Buddha told Sariputra:

– Receive and uphold this well, expound it to the fourfold assembly, and take care never to forget it.

At that time, Sariputra, Ananda, and the others heard the Buddha’s teaching, rejoiced, and respectfully practiced it.

The method for treating violations of the precepts:

Furthermore, the Buddha told Sariputra:

– Any bhikshu, bhikshuni, shikshamana, shramanera, shramanerika, upasaka, or upasika who has received the Buddha’s precepts but whose body and mind are frenzied and disordered like those of an ape or monkey destroys the branches and ruins the roots of the Dharma seed that has been planted before it can grow. So it is with the sevenfold assembly. With respect to the Buddha’s precepts, before the form of morality has arisen, they commit offenses ranging from dushkrita to parajika. They are like drunken elephants that do not distinguish good from bad or know any direction, trampling and utterly destroying all beautiful things. So it is with the fourfold assembly: they trample and destroy the blue lotuses of pure morality in the pond. Those who violently break the precepts are like rabid dogs that, upon seeing people, trees, or even birds and beasts, chase after them and bite them. When evil precept-breakers behold the purity of Buddhas and arhats and the meritorious field of blessings of bhikshus, they pursue them with insults, slander, and destruction. They themselves drink poison, and throughout their bodies blood and fire appear, burning every joint and bone. These frenzied fools, devoid of wisdom, have fetters like fierce winds that stir the mountains and forests of afflictions. Lust is their eyes, anger their hands and feet, and delusion their body. They trample the world and plant seeds of evil; having planted them themselves, they also teach others to seek them. The wardens of hell, rakshasas, ox-headed demons, abang demons, evil spirits of the kalpa fire, spirits of the sword forest, King Yama, and the eighteen lords of the hells are always your intimate companions and supreme spiritual friends. Surely you will roam everywhere day and night together with the seeds of hell. Because this precept-breaker seeks material gain and fame, fierce fires enter his mind. He considers himself virtuous and fully endowed with awe-inspiring dignity, and goes to a Dharma-knower dwelling in seclusion, resembling an illusionist who bewilders people’s eyes. Through this illusion, he deceives people and falsely claims to practice dhutanga. The evil winds of broken precepts constantly blow apart the flowers of sinful karma upon his body. Abusive speech and slander, together with the fragrance of an unwholesome mind, permeate his body and mind. This person’s body and mind resemble an orchid infested with a hundred thousand fleas. Although he practices meditation, he deceitfully pretends to count his breaths and obtains visions. At first, he sees a black Buddha resembling the leg of a black elephant, or a person made of ashes. He sees bhikshus with shattered heads and broken legs, and bhikshunis adorned with floral garlands. He sees celestial elephants transform into apes and monkeys, their hair standing on end and burning with fire, coming to disturb him. Or he sees a wild fox and another dog, each with a hundred thousand tails. Every tail sticks straight out and bears innumerable worms and all manner of filth. Or he sees camels, emaciated pigs and dogs, jar-shaped ghosts, and other evil yakshas and grotesque ash-colored rakshasas, all holding weapons and fierce flames with which they beat the bhikshu. Because of this, he becomes insane, sometimes singing, sometimes dancing, and lying upon excrement-covered ground. He must be treated without delay.

The method of treatment is as follows: He should approach a wise person and sincerely repent, disclosing the unwholesome and evil karma he has created. The wise person should instruct this bhikshu to recollect Buddha Shakyamuni and then to recollect the seven Buddhas. After recollecting the seven Buddhas, he should recollect the thirty-five Buddhas. Thereafter, he should also recollect the bodhisattvas, bring to mind the Mahayana resolve, contemplate the profound emptiness of dharmas, and feel shame and remorse. He should visualize each Buddha holding bathing water and pouring it over his head.

Again, contemplate your own body falling into the Avici hell and undergoing all manner of suffering in the eighteen hells. While in hell, recite: “Homage to the Buddha, homage to the Dharma, homage to the bhikshu Sangha,” and cultivate the six recollections. In a dream, see the white hair-mark between the eyebrows of all the Tathagata Buddhas emitting light that rescues beings from the sufferings of hell.

Having seen this, you should be like a person in debt who, filled with shame, knows that the debt must be repaid. With one-pointed mind and undivided intention, put on the sanghati and the antarvasa, go before the pure Sangha, and cast your five limbs to the ground like a great mountain toppling. Filled with shame, repent of all your offenses, serve the Sangha, and perform arduous tasks such as cleaning the latrines and carrying away excrement.

Continue thus for eight hundred days. Afterward, bathe your body, put on the sanghati once more, enter the stupa, join your palms single-mindedly, and gaze intently upon the white hair-mark between the eyebrows. For one to seven days, contemplate the light of the Great Being, the Tathagata.

Then return to a wise person and request repentance. The wise person should say: “Bhikshu! Now contemplate your own body as resembling a golden vessel containing four venomous snakes, two above and two below, spitting forth terrifying poison.

Contemplate further a six-headed dragon coiled around the vessel. The dragon also spews poison, dripping it into the snakes’ mouths. From the golden vessel, great trees appear in the four directions and fill the three realms.

Then a black elephant comes, intending to uproot these trees, while flames blaze on all four sides.” Having seen this, the wise person should then tell him: “Bhikshu, you should know! This vessel is the receptacle of the earth element. The blue snake arises from the wind element and is the poison of the wind element.

The snake whose color accords with water arises from the water element and is the poison of the water element. The white snake arises from the earth element and is the poison of the earth element. The yellow snake arises from the fire element and is the poison of the fire element.

The six-headed dragon represents the five skandhas and the space within your body. Thus, this body is poisonous, harmful, and impure. Why did you follow evil and violate the precepts without remedying it?” After speaking these words, he should again instruct the bhikshu to sweep and plaster the ground of the stupa and perform arduous tasks.

He should also instruct him to contemplate the Buddha and see the Buddha emitting golden rays of light and stroking his head with his hand. Only afterward should he instruct him in the contemplation of impurity. Through the Dharma-gate of impurity, all hindrances are completely dispelled, with none remaining.

After this, he may participate with the Sangha in the recitation of the precepts. When the precepts are about to be recited, this proclamation should be made: “Bhikshu So-and-so, or bhikshuni So-and-so, has performed arduous tasks for eight hundred days; for seven days contemplated the white hair-mark between the Buddha’s eyebrows; practiced the contemplation of venomous snakes and the visualization of hell; further contemplated a Buddha teaching the Dharma of repentance; and practiced the contemplation of impurity.

When facing objects, there is no longer any notion of self or person, and this person has also attained clear understanding within the sphere of contemplation. The Buddha poured bathing water upon the crown of this bhikshu’s head, and a heavenly spirit appeared in a dream and declared that this person had been purified. This person is now filled with shame, and I have verified and know this.

May the great assembly grant its permission.” At that time, the Vinaya master must further question this bhikshu according to the Vinaya. He should also instruct him to recite the precepts eight hundred times. Only afterward may he be regarded as no different from a pure bhikshu.

The Buddha said to Shariputra:

– If anyone among the seven assemblies commits a minor precept offense and fails to repent after two nights, although that person may practice meditative concentration in the present life, ultimately he will not attain the path. If one violates a grave precept, one will fall into the great hells; after emerging from hell, one will take birth as an animal. Thus one will pass through the three destinies for three full kalpas. Afterward, one will become human. Although obtaining a human body, one will be destitute and afflicted with leprosy. For seventy-seven lives, one will not see a Buddha, will be unable to hear the Dharma, and will not possess all the faculties. Therefore, if a wise person violates a precept of the Buddha, even by committing a dushkrita offense, he must become as terrified as though cut by a blade and feel immeasurable shame—how much more so in the case of a grave precept. If anyone is able to take this medicine of precept observance, know that such a person is a true spiritual hero, supreme in patience, shame, and moral dread, unsurpassed by anyone.

At that time, the Blessed One spoke these verses:

– One who breaks the precepts, whose mind is impure,

Is like a stray dog roaming about,

Seeking offerings everywhere,

Killing and harming because of a covetous mind.

One should take the medicine of shame and moral dread,

And wear patience as one’s robe;

Adorn oneself with the flowers of repentance,

And perfume oneself with the fragrance of a wholesome mind.

Single-mindedly contemplate the marks of the Buddha,

Dispelling suffering, free from sorrow;

One should also recollect the Dharma of emptiness,

And cultivate the contemplation of impurity.

This is called the Tathagata’s

Nectar medicine of anointing the crown.

Having taken it, the mind is free from sorrow

And reaches the shore of nirvana.

One should practice in accordance with the Dharma;

What is contrary to Dharma should not be done.

Whether in this life or in the past,

Those who practice the Dharma attain liberation.

Following the Buddha’s teachings,

Upholding the precepts and practicing dhutanga,

With body and mind committing no evil deeds,

They swiftly reach the place of liberation.

At that time, the Blessed One said to Shariputra:

– You should carefully receive and retain this medicine for violations of the precepts. Take care never to forget it.

Then Shariputra, Ananda, and the others heard the Buddha’s teaching, rejoiced, and faithfully practiced it.

The Secret Essential Dharma for Treating the Illnesses of Meditation

End of the First Fascicle